Fare box with grab handle



Oct. 12, 19.54 F, DAUGHERTY 2,691,483

FARE BOX WITH GRAB HANDLE Filed Sept. 21, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l F"' I 9 I /o ATTORNEYS Oct. 12, 1954 DAUGHERTY 2,691,483

FARE BOX WITH GRAB HANDLE Filed Sept. 21, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES m'rNT OFFICE FARE BOX WITH GRAB HANDLE Fount F. Daugherty, Dayton, Ohio Application September 21, 1950, Serial No. 186,054

' 2 Claims.

This invention relates to fare boxes for buses, street cars, and the like.

At the present time most fare boxes for the collection of coin or token fares on street cars or buses are positioned adjacent the driver or motorman, and are most generally mounted on rigidly fixed posts or the like at a convenient height for the deposition of fares and for observation and operation by the driver.

To main schedules, the operators frequently start their vehicles while a passenger is fumbling for, or in the act of depositiing a fare in the fare box. passenger ofi balance to the extent of causing a fall and injury while grabbing for a support,

To guard against such accidents and to speed fare collections, I have provided a fare box construction which includes as a part of its exterior construction a series of grab handles conveniently placed around the fare receiving Well, so

that any one of them may be readily seized by the passenger for support. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the upper ends of the grab handles terminate in a ring which supports the central coin well, and the spacing between the handles provides visibility for convenient inspection by the operator, of deposited coins or tokens within a cylindrical glass inspection window.

It is accordingly the primary object of my invention to provide a novel fare box that includes conveniently located grab handles for passengers depositing fares in the box.

It is another important object of the invention to provide a novel fare box including a series of grab handles surrounding a coin well on the top of the box.

Another object is the provision of supporting members for the coin well atop a fare box and so constructed as to provide supporting handles between which a fare inspection window is clearly visible.

Other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a fare box illustrating one embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1.

The fare box comprises an external cabinet 6 which encloses the internal mechanism. In the illustrated embodiment the cabinet is square in horizontal cross section and is secured at its bottom to a main supporting plate that may be an integral element of the internal frame that car- The lurch of the vehicle may throw the ries the internal mechanism, not shown. This plate is secured, as by bolts 8 to a horizontal flange 9 on a hollow hub ID. A post ll fits into the hollow hub Hi to rigidly support the entire fare box, there being any suitable means not shown, for preventing rotation of the hub l0 upon the post H. The post H is suitably fixed, preferably to the fioor of the vehicle, so as to support the entire fare box at a convenient height for the deposition of fares therein, and for operation by the vehicle driver or conductor, as the case may be.

Protruding from one side of the fare box is a change maker l3, a coin dumping and motor actuating plunger ill and a pair of depressible levers l 5 and IS. The function of these elements, as well as the description of the internal mechanism may be found in the copending United States application of Donald L. Brown and Edward W. Haas, Serial No. 185,532, entitled Improvement of Fareboxes and filed on September 19, 1950, wherein the subject matter thereof is claimed. It will be understood that the instant invention is independent of the internal fare box mechanism and operating means etc.

The upper end of the cabinet 6 is in the general shape of a truncated pyramid formed by the inwardly directed walls l1, l8, l9 and 20 which terminate in a central round opening 22. A cylindrical glass inspection window 23 fits snugly within this opening and protrudes upwardly therefrom. The lower end of the cylindrical window is secured in any suitable manner, such for example as shown in the aforesaid copending application, and a dump floor 21 within the window holds the coins while awaiting inspection.

Four handles, 24, 25, 26 and 21 extend up-' wardly and inwardly from the lower ends of the frustro-pyramid top, and in the illustrated embodiment are integrally cast therewith. The up per ends of the handles terminate in a central ring 28. In cross section the handles 24-21 are of smooth contour such as round or elliptical, and there is adequate space between them and the cylindrical window 23 for insertion of a persons fingers and to provide adequate visibility of the window.

The central ring 28 has a downwardly and laterally inwardly; extending channel 30 within which is received the upper end of the cylindrical window 23 and a coin gaging plate, the window and plate 29 being clamped against the lateral wall of the channel by the means that secures the lower end of the cylindrical window. A coin receiving element or well 33 rests upon the upper inner surface of the ring 28 and upon the gaging plate 29, being secured in place by screws (not shown) connecting the well and plate. The well 33 has a hopper 34 that terminates in a central slot 35 in alignment with a similar slot 36 in the gaging plate 29. The slot 36- in the gaging plate may be shorter than the slot 35 in the well to provide a gage preventing passage into the fare box of coins or tokens that are too large for the fare box to handle.

The construction thereby provides a fare box having a series of grab handles conveniently arranged for the use of patrons adjacent the box. They also provide a rigid support integral with the cabinet for the support of the inspection window and the coin well, and being around the window they offer substantial protection against accidental blows which might break it.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A fare box for a public conveyance comprising a cabinet, a fare handling mechanism in said cabinet, a dump plate mounted in said cabinet above said fare handling mechanism and a tubular fare inspection window located above said dump plate and rigidly supported by said cabinet so that the support is unaffected as to rigidity by either the continual jolting to which the fare box is subjected while the vehicle is in motion or by the use of the portion of the cabinet above the inspection window by passengers as a support, said cabinet comprising an integral structure having upwardly extending side walls merging into a top wall provided with a central opening and a rigid ring spaced from and axially aligned with the top wall opening, said ring and the portion of said top wall adjacent said opening having axially spaced seating surfaces on which the upper and lower ends respectively of said tubular fare inspection window are seated, said ring being supported upon rigid struts formed integrally with said ring and top wall and extending downwardly and'outwardly from the periphery of the ring toward the outer extremities of the top wall in sufiicient spaced relation to the exterior of said tubular window to permit use of said struts as grab handles by passengers.

2. A fare box for a public conveyance comprising a cabinet, a fare handling mechanism in said cabinet, a dump plate mounted in said cabinet above said fare handling mechanism and a cylindrical fare inspection window located above said dump plate and rigidly supported by said cabinet so that the support is unaffected as to rigidity by either the continual jolting to which the fare box is subjected while the vehicle is in motion or by the use of the portion of the cabinet above the inspection window by passengers as a support, said cabinet comprising an integral cast structure having upwardly extending side walls merging into a top wall in the form of a truncated pyramid provided with a central opening and a rigid ring spaced from and axially aligned with the top wall opening, said ring and the portion of said top wall-adjacent saidopening having axially spaced annular seating surfaces on which the upper and lower endsrespectively of said tubular fare inspection window are seated, said ring being supported upon rigid struts cast integrally with said ring and top wall and extending downwardly and outwardly from the periphery of the ring toward the outer extremities of the top wall in sufificient spaced relation to the exterior of said tubular window to permit use of said struts as grab handles by passengers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date D. 159,712 Barber Aug. '5, 1950 428,267 Caldwell -May 20, 1890 918,963 Charlton Apr. 20, 1909 2,039,503 Tjaarda l May 5, 1936 2,338,575 Daugherty Jan. 4, 194 i 

